


The Pen Is To Me As A Beak Is To A Hen.

by theshyauthor



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 21:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3869716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshyauthor/pseuds/theshyauthor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>„my pen broke during this important exam and you borrowed me yours I’m sorry I forgot to give it back to you but please stop screaming at me I didn’t steal it on purpose“ AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pen Is To Me As A Beak Is To A Hen.

**Author's Note:**

> One of my three pens broke during this exam I had today and all of a sudden I was writing more fanfiction in my head than words on my paper. Also writing for a new fandom is always scary.  
> “The Pen Is To Me As A Beak Is To A Hen.”- J. R. R. Tolkien
> 
> This work can also be found on my tumblr and LJ (theshyauthor).

Dan Howell was the first one to admit that he wasn’t the most ambitious university student. He skipped a lecture at least once a week and most of the time started his homework assignments two hours before deadline even though he had had an entire week to do them. When an exam was coming up he started studying for it roughly three days before and even then he was more interested in blankly staring at the sheets of paper in front of him than actually reading the words written down on them.

But right now he was sitting in the middle of an important history exam for a lecture that he had originally taken for the extra credits only and he was acing it. It had turned out that he really enjoyed the topic the lecture covered and it was the only one that he consistently visited every single week, even if history wasn’t his major. He didn’t have to study much because he was actually paying attention during the lecture and now that he was writing an essay on the topic of the French Revolution and had already answered the few questions asking for names and specific dates he finally understood how some people could actually enjoy university. Maybe he should change his major.

It was quiet in the lecture hall. Only the scratching of pens and the rustling of papers could be heard every now and again, paired with a cough or a sneeze from some corner of the room because it was flu season. Dan was roughly one hundred words into his essay the first time his pen stopped working. Cursing under his breath he shook it a few times and made some messy lines along the edge of the paper until it started working again. He had to press the pen against the paper harder than was normally necessary while writing. It elicited an uncomfortable feeling in Dan’s left wrist.

He didn’t make it more than approximately fifty words father before the black colour of the pen stopped completely. About three hundred and fifty words were still to write and of course, of fucking course, he did not bring another pen with him. This time he cursed loud enough for the entire lecture hall to hear it and smacked the offending object against the edge of the table. It snapped in two. Dan had never felt more mocked by an inanimate thing in his entire life.

Nearly all of the eyes in the lecture hall are directed his way and one of the two overseers shushed him. He almost shushed her back when a pale hand came in his sight, offering a pen. The hand belonged to the black-haired guy to his left and Dan quickly took the pen from him, whispering a thank you in his direction. His neighbour just nodded before turning back to his exam and Dan also started writing again.

Unlike his other pen, this one wrote in blue and Dan didn’t like the sudden change of colour in the middle of his essay at all but he was in no position to complain. While his pen had been promotional material from his bank, this one was black and heavy with some golden details and it seemed expensive. Dan didn’t really care about the way it looked though as long as it provided him with enough ink to finish his essay.

Dan finished his essay fifteen minutes before the end of the exam. Only few people had already handed theirs in. He’s lucky that the guy to his right already did so because now he neither had to wait for him to finish nor disrupt him in order to get out of the row of seats. He grabbed his stuff and made his way to the front of the lecture hall to pass the overseer his paper. With one last glance on it he made sure that he had added his name and matriculation number before leaving the quiet of the lecture hall behind and stepping into the busy hallway. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that he had forgotten something.

___

It was Wednesday and Dan should have been at a lecture right now but instead he was sat in front of one of the computers at university, mindlessly browsing the internet. He had received his exam result this morning, the one concerning the history exam, and had found out that he’d gotten a B. It had made him feel accomplished but obviously not increased his ambition to become a better student in general.

He was reading an article about recent studies in bilingualism that one of his friends had shared on Facebook because he had nothing else to do when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Dan turned around to find a tall man standing behind him that looked oddly familiar. He had black hair and black glasses framing his blue eyes. His lips were set in a firm line.

“Can I help you?” Dan asked slightly irritated when the stranger in front of him didn’t say a word but looked at him expectantly.

“Do you enjoy taking others people’s possessions?” A few heads turned around to watch the scene unfolding as the man talking didn’t exactly keep his voice down. Dan blinked a couple of times, not really sure how to respond. “What?”

“I asked if you enjoy taking others people’s possessions.”

“Look, I’m not really sure what your problem is mate but I think you must have mistaken me with someone else.” He turned back to the computer screen with the intention to ignore the weirdo in the hopes that he’d eventually leave.

“So it wasn’t you who I gave the pen to during the exam? You know- the pen I never saw again afterwards.” He’s almost screaming at this point. Oh. That’s why he looked familiar to Dan.

Under normal circumstances Dan would have apologized and simply returned the pen. He didn’t like it though when people screamed at him, especially if it was because of something as ridiculous as an inanimate object. Instead he stood up –and realized with great pleasure that he was a little bit bigger than his opponent- and growled under his breath: “Calm the fuck down, it’s just a stupid pen. I probably don’t even have it anymore.” That was a lie. Dan knew that it must have been at home in his black messenger back, exactly where he put it before leaving the lecture hall after the exam.

There were tears gathering in the other man’s eyes, something that Dan did not expect and he immediately regretted his words, even though they haven’t been mean. “That was the pen that my grandfather gave to me when I started school, my lucky pen. It was the last gift I received from him before he passed away, you fucking asshole.”

Oh shit. Fuck. Damn. Dan messed up. He held up his hands in a placating way. “No. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. I still have it, I promise. It’s in my messenger bag back at home. I am so sorry. I had no idea. Here, give me your phone. Let me give you my number and we’ll meet up tomorrow and I’ll give it back to you.”

The other man still looked like he was about to cry at any second and his face was a worrying shade of red but he handed Dan his phone and watched quietly as Dan typed his number in and saved it in the man’s contact list.

“Here look, that’s my number, right here, saved under Dan. I really have to go to my lecture now but call me, okay? Call me and we’ll meet up tomorrow and I’ll give you your pen back. Again, I am so sorry.” He pushed the phone back into the other man’s hand and blindly grabbed for his bag before leaving with quick steps. He could feel the eyes of onlookers on him and only after he had left did he remember that he hadn’t even logged out of his student account on the computer. Dan had experienced many embarrassing situations in his life already but this was definitely one of the worst.

___

His name is Phil and he didn’t call Dan but instead sent him a text message. They agreed to meet in front of a popular coffee shop close to university. Dan didn’t even know why he was this nervous to see the other man again, but he couldn’t stop playing with the strap of his messenger bag.

Phil was two minutes late when he arrived and out of breath but there was a look of relief that crossed his face when he spotted Dan. It looked like he had been worried that Dan wouldn’t show up.

“Hey.” Dan said tentatively. “Sorry about yesterday. I honestly didn’t take your pen on purpose.”

He held out the pen for the other man to grab. “I’m sorry too, you know. I shouldn’t have screamed at you right away but it was a rough day and I had been beating myself up already for over a week that I accidently handed you the wrong pen. Something in me just snapped at that point.”

Dan scoffed his shoes against the pavement and shrugged. “That’s alright.”

There was an awkward silence as neither man knew what to say to the other. Dan had just come up with an excuse in his head to escape the situation when Phil started talking again: “Would you maybe like to drink a coffee with me? You looked quite confident when writing your essay and I’ve been wondering all week what your take on the question was.”

Dan hadn’t expect an apology from Phil and he had expected much less that the man would want to spend any more time with him after what had transpired between them yesterday, but Phil had a shy and hopeful smile on his face. He looked good when he smiled and Dan thought to himself that he’d like to see him more often that way. “Sure, I’d absolutely love to.”


End file.
